As part of the evaluation of the Strategic School Funding for Results (SSFR) project, American Institutes for Research (AIR) conducted surveys of principals, teachers, and members of School Site Councils (SSCs) to gather information on the attitudes and perspectives regarding the implementation of key components of the SSFR model in Twin Rivers…

In 2009 the Obama administration announced a focused commitment to turn around 5,000 of the United States' chronically lowest-performing public schools as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). This commitment came with $3 billion in funding for the School Improvement Grant program, or SIG, along with new guidelines to ensure…

Although data driven-decision making has been the mantra of school reform for the last 10 years, school leaders benefit from frequent discussions in how to engage teachers in the process. As a result, the purpose of this paper is to apply Reeves' (2004) framework concerning Antecedents of Excellence in creating a school culture that routinely uses…

How did Washington create a clear organizational structure that assigns responsibility for each aspect of transfer policy to the group that is best suited to manage it (Kisker, Wagoner, and Cohen, 2011)? In this chapter, the authors will introduce the agencies, organizations, and entities that have played a key role in gathering information,…

The national Norwegian school reform of 1994, which gave students statutory rights to at least 3 years of upper secondary education, had a significant impact on educational attainment among immigrant youth. In particular, we find that the immigrant transition rate from compulsory schooling to completion of the first year of upper secondary…

Participating in undergraduate research can be a pivotal experience for students in life science disciplines. Development of critical thinking skills, in addition to conveying scientific ideas in oral and written formats, is essential to ensuring that students develop a greater understanding of basic scientific knowledge and the research process.…

Agricultural leadership extension programs aim to expand the horizons of leaders through study and experiences. These programs can have direct implications for communities when they are designed and delivered for county officials. This study specifically examined a leadership program administered in Texas which has graduated five classes of county…

The purpose of this study was to find out which corrective actions have a positive impact on improving students' learning and achievement and ultimately moving underperforming elementary schools out of Program Improvement (PI) status in California. Some common corrective actions include, but are not limited to, instructional program, instructional…

A career academy is a small learning community within a high school, which selects a subset of students and teachers for a two-, three-, or four-year period. Students enter through a voluntary process; they must apply and be accepted, with parental knowledge and support. A career academy involves teachers from different subjects working together…

This study addressed the implementation of the Working on the Work (WOW) framework in an elementary school in Northwest Georgia. The researcher examined the effectiveness of the WOW framework on teacher commitment, teacher training, student engagement, and student achievement. The researcher used quantitative and qualitative research methods to…

The National Writing Project (NWP) has expanded its national portfolio of research projects conducted at local Writing Project sites to 16 studies that examine professional development, teacher practices, and student writing achievement. NWP sites emphasize common principles of high-quality instruction and the professional development necessary to…

For over 30 years, Movement for Canadian Literacy (MCL) has provided a forum and voice for literacy organizations, practitioners and learners across the country. In partnership with its member literacy coalitions, learner representatives from every province and territory and other key stakeholders, MCL has supported the literacy and essential…

Two years ago, the problems of the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) were so significant that many believed the system was beyond repair. According to the 2007 National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), only eight percent of eighth graders were on grade level in math, and 12 percent were in reading. With achievement gaps between…

Purpose: This paper's objective is to test the main effect of negotiation training-level on acquiring negotiation skills. Training level refers to the time a trainee spends in a negotiation training course receiving the standard style and methods of training. Negotiation skills are manifested through trainees' performance after receiving training.…

Everyone wants to use programs that have been proven effective. But when programs are used by large numbers of schools, the effects are often inconsistent. A three-year study by the Consortium for Policy Research in Education at the University of Pennsylvania examined how programs are adapted by schools. The researchers found that the…